Triangle Mind Game
by flairina
Summary: Ryuk tries to find someone he thinks he'll get maximum entertainment out of rather than just dropping the Death Note randomly. The time he spends searching for "the right one" goes on a little too long, and the entire play steps out of sync.
1. Displacement Chess

The disclaimer will die momentarily, but before it does it just wants to say that I do not own Death No-

* * *

Rem closed her eyes, and pondered what she was about to do. Doubt was creeping in- a rare thing for a shinigami. Was it really a good idea? To give Misa Amane Gelus' former notebook? Rem was certain he would have wanted it that way, for the girl he had sacrificed himself for to have something by which to protect herself. But dropped Death Notes rarely, if ever, had positive results, at least by most human standards. Would such a girl really even want to own it, let alone use it? In addition, Rem herself would be tied to the human world until Misa's death, as she was technically the current owner of Gelus' Death Note. Was this truly worth the consequences?

The Shinigami came to a decision and took flight, the sound of leathery, skeletal wings echoing off the vast emptiness.

* * *

"Hey Ryuk, what have you been looking at?"

Ryuk didn't immediately react to the question. He was too surprised that someone in this realm actually even cared enough to wonder what he was doing, let alone walk over to ask. Even he probably wouldn't have done that. Slowly, he turned. It was Deridovely, which meant he was probably just so bored of gambling with only Gook that he was now going to try to drag Ryuk back over there. That he had actually bothered to walk over here meant he was probably pretty desperate.

"I'm a little _busy_, Deridovely, so no, I'm not going to be coming back to gambling right now." Ryuk drawled.

Deridovely gave what may have been some sort of laugh, but sounded more like he was just coughing on dry air. As if he even needed to breathe. "No Ryuk, I'm actually wondering what you're doing. You've been sitting here watching the human world for so long that I'm actually a little curious. What could possibly be down there that so thoroughly occupies your attention?"

Ryuk grinned. That was two surprises in one day; in the Shinigami realm that was practically akin to the probability of planetary alignment. "I'm planning to relieve a little boredom down there. I just need to find the right person to do it... you'll see."

The other Shinigami stared at Ryuk, and said nothing, but grinned.

* * *

The model sensation known as Misa Amane was reclining in her current dressing room when the notebook fell out of the air and sprawled itself in the middle of the floor. Starting at the noise, she turned to stare at the black piece of stationary that was suddenly lying in the dead center of the room.

"Wha...?" Walking over, she picked the notebook off the ground. "Death...Note?"

A shadow fell over her. Misa looked up and shrieked, flinging the notebook across the room as she screamed in terror at the looming..._ thing_ currently looking right at her.

"Miss Amane?!" Security guards burst through the door. "What happened?! Are you injured?!"

Misa scrambled to a corner of the room, her breathing coming in panicked gasps. "H-help! That thing, it's going to eat me!" she got out, pointing a finger at the creature. It was still just standing and staring at her, an indescribable look on its face.

The guards stared at the direction her finger pointed, seeing nothing to be concerned about. "...are you certain you're alright, Miss Amane? You're on in ten."

"What?! No I'm not alright, can't you see that thing?!"

"My name is Rem..."

"It just talked! Can't you hear it?!"

The guards looked at each other. Apparently their star model was having some sort of backstage breakdown. Miss Amane," one of them began, "can't you do this after the shoot? We're a little short on time right now."

Misa's breathing hitched, but she began to calm down. Apparently she was the only one who could see or hear the... woman? standing in plain sight. It wasn't making any movement towards her though... maybe it wasn't going to hurt her? "Y-yeah, never mind, you can go, I'll be ready in a minute..."

The guards nodded, and closed the door, muttering audibly about models, lack of food, and hallucinations, which Misa couldn't help but pout at despite the monster in the room. She did _not_ starve herself _or_ hallucinate, how dare they!

The creature took a step forward, drawing Misa's attention back to it and causing her fear to come rushing back. It was only a few feet from her, and she was backed into a corner-!

Then it smiled.

"Hello, Misa Amane. As I told you, my name is Rem..."

* * *

-Shortly after the model shoot-

"...so, I just write a person's name in here, and picture their face, and they die? Just like that?" Misa held the Death Note between fingers that were not quite trembling, a little scared of the supposed power she held before her. She imagined sending a specter flying out of a pen, an invisible entity which would glide across the world until it found its intended target, bury itself inside their chest, and cut off the flow of blood, killing them instantly...

"Yes, that is correct." Rem replied. "You may also write the cause of death, if you do not wish it to be by a heart attack, and the time you wish them to die, if you would prefer they not die within 40 seconds of writing their name. You may also manipulate their actions before death, to a certain degree, if you write out further details."

Misa turned to face the skeletal creature she was quickly becoming more and more comfortable around. "Sooo... why give this to me then? I'm a model, you can't have thought there's that many people I really want to kill."

Rem lowered her upper body and raised it again, which Misa had figured out by this point was the Shinigami's version of a nod. "Indeed, I do not believe you to have much use for this notebook. However, there is someone who would have wanted you to have it... to protect yourself, as he no longer can."

Misa blinked at that. What did that mean?

Rem turned away, staring at something only she could see, which Misa took as a sign that perhaps she should ask the Shinigami some other time.

* * *

-Misa's Apartment-

"...so, you are going to use the Death Note to kill the criminal who killed your parents?"

Misa nodded. "If there's anyone I want to test this on, it's him. He killed my parents, and he got away with it with no punishment whatsoever. He deserves it more than anyone else I can think of."

She opened the notebook. Aside from the rules that looked like they'd been scratched by a claw on to the inside cover, it looked like any other notebook... hard to believe this thing could kill so easily. Not that she really doubted that it worked, given the Shinigami looking over her shoulder.

Steeling herself, Misa quickly wrote down the name of the criminal whose crimes, trial, and punishment (or total lack thereof) she had personally witnessed. Picturing his face as she wrote the name made her expression involuntarily twist itself into a guttural snarl. With a flourish, she finished, and set the pen back down.

The hands of a clock ticked in the silence.

Misa tapped her foot. "...so, how will I know if it worked?"

Rem paused a moment before answering. "I'm afraid that without any way to see him, there is no way of knowing. I cannot go too far from your side, now that you own the notebook, so I cannot confirm it for you. Do you know his current whereabouts?"

Misa frowned. "No..." A pout began to form on the young teen's face. "Well, that's stupid. Guess there's nothing I can do except wait until tomorrow..."

* * *

"Rem, look, look!"

The Shinigami "woke" from her resting position near the window, and walked over to the desk to look over Misa's shoulder at the screen of her laptop. It was opened to a social security website, showing all Japanese deaths within the past several days. Misa was gesturing at a particular one, which Rem assumed was the man she had killed last night. Why Misa was quite so surprised and excited about this, Rem was not sure.

"It worked! It worked! I did it! Justice came through in the end!" Misa twirled in a circle, elated beyond belief. She had never thought a solution to the problem that had haunted her for years would just present itself out of the blue.

Though, now that that was taken care of, she had little use for this notebook. Misa had no idea what to do with it. She had no desire to kill anyone... well, she could figure it out later. For now, she had a day off, so... maybe she could get to know her suddenly existent companion a little better.

"So, Rem, now that that's done with, what about you?"

Rem raised her head. "What about... me?"

Misa nodded. "Uh huh! I wanna know more about you! What do you like, dislike, favorite foods, you know!"

The Shinigami simply stared. She was fairly certain this was not typical of humans in possession of a Death Note. Most were less than inquisitive about anything besides the workings of the notebook. She certainly had not been expecting this girl to ask her about herself.

There was a long pause before Rem responded. "I... I am afraid there is little to say about myself... as a Shinigami, there is little for any of us to like or dislike. We do not have the same morals or standards as humans, and as we do not need anything to survive, we simply... exist. I have never truly thought about what I like, nor what I dislike... but I do know that I wish to see you safe, Misa. It is why I gave you that notebook. So I suppose that that is what I like."

At that, Misa jumped out of her chair and hugged Rem as best she could. "Aww, thank you! That's so sweet of you Rem."

Rem looked at the human attempting to encircle her arms around her body with no idea what to think. Misa truly was an odd one, at least compared to others who had held the Death Note before her. "As for favorite foods... Shinigami tend to enjoy fresh fruits, particularly ones that are heavily filled with liquid or juice. Indeed, many of my kind believe such foods to be one of the only good things about the human world. Apples seem to be the most valued, though I am unsure why as I have never had much taste for them. Indeed, I have found I am not fond of most foods, even fruits, in general, and as Shinigami do not need them I have not eaten anything for centuries."

"Oh... well, I'll just have to find something you do like then!" Misa smiled and looked up at her much taller companion before moving back to her chair. "So, anything else?"

Rem closed her eyes. "I am sorry, Misa, but there is very little I can tell you about myself besides what I have already said. There simply isn't much to say."

"Aww..." the girl sighed. "Alright, I understand..." The model put a finger to her cheek and shifted her face into a quizzical expression. "Well... if you can't tell me about yourself, then..."

"Tell me more about Shinigami."

* * *

Light Yagami turned and stared out his classroom window, wondering if anything was ever going to come along and break the monotony that was his life.

Of course, nothing happened. Nothing ever did.

* * *

AN: Hoo hoo hoooo, boy, I finished Death Note a few days ago, was all excited to read some fanfics, and then came here to find out it was filled with nothing but Light/L, crack, and OC-focused stories, none of which held the elements from the show that I was actually looking for. Wow. Yeah. I decided I should do something about that. It doesn't look it yet, but welcome to a fic where the only romance is false, several roles are reversed, and everything goes about as well as you would expect a Death Note fanfiction to go if it tried its best to emulate canon style wit-matching and the subsequent results of that. Don't worry, most, if not all major characters will be involved in this (though I'm not sure if or how Near and Mello will be getting involved at the end), so if you thought Light or L were going to miss out on this you thought wrong. Prepare yourselves, this might get confusing...

About half of this is already planned out. Here's to hoping for a year full of nothing but updates!


	2. King-Queen Transposition

The disclaimer, as it is not human, was not consigned to MU upon dying last chapter. Thus it has been reincarnated in its current form. Let us hope it stays that way, so as to continuously remind those of us with short term memory that I do not own Death Note.

* * *

The next day, Misa had had her agent cancel her modeling appointment, citing that she "wasn't feeling so well after the last shoot". Though she had tried to wave off his concerns, her agent had all but insisted on sending someone to watch over her and cater to her needs to make sure she got better. An argument had ensued, and it had taken over 30 minutes to get him to drop it (during which a few items had been thrown), but she finally had the rest of the day to herself.

"Misa, what do you plan to do with the notebook now that you know that it works?" Rem asked from out of the blue.

The blonde teenager wasn't quite sure how to respond, as the question had come out of nowhere. They hadn't even been talking, Rem had been silent all morning up until now. Then again, deciding what to do WAS part of the reason she'd taken today off, so she thought about it before responding. "Well... I don't really NEED it... I'm definitely not giving it up though. Let me think about it..."

About twenty minutes later, Misa had come up with an idea. "Okay, I think I have something. There the obvious first option, which is that I just don't use it. I can do that, right?" Misa looked up questioningly, to which Rem body-nodded.

"Correct. You have no obligation to use it, though I still must follow you until you die, as you will remain its owner until then."

Misa nodded, expecting that. "Right, I know, but I think I've got a better idea. Good prevailed over evil last night, right? I got revenge against the man who killed my parents, and I kept him from robbing or killing anyone else ever again. And the world is better off now because of it. But justice doesn't always come through in the end in other cases. Most prisoners sit in jail, never repenting their actions. Some are even let out, and then just do the same thing they were imprisoned for in the first place! And that's if they even get put in jail to begin with... criminals make everyone else's lives worse. But... what if I changed that?"

"...what do you mean?"

"I mean, what if I got rid of more criminals? With this Death Note, I could make the world a better place! I mean, it wouldn't happen overnight or anything, I know, but I just feel like this is what I'm meant to do!" The young girl was practically bouncing in her seat at the thought. She could be like some sort of superhero, bringing justice to the masses when the government would not!

Rem considered this for a moment before responding. "I do not find that course of action wise, Misa."

The model swiveled in her chair, surprised. "Wha? Why not? I could make lots of people's lives better and make sure criminals never hurt anyone again! What's the problem?"

Rem lowered her head slightly to get closer to Misa's level. "Misa, I know little of the human world, but I know that none of you are perfect in your judgement. Even we Shinigami are not all knowing, and humans are far less so than we. From the limited amount of this world that I have seen from the Shinigami Realm, it seems likely that many of your kind have been accused and imprisoned on false charges. Tell me, how would you be able to tell the difference between the truly guilty and the protesting innocents?"

Misa bit her lip. That was... a legitimate point. "Yeah, okay, I get that some people in jail might be innocent, but I can't just do nothing! You gave me this notebook to protect myself, right? Well, if I can use it to protect others, why shouldn't I? I have to use it to help somehow!" She punctuated this last point with a small fist to the top of her desk.

Rem backed away, not wanting to appear threatening. "Misa, you may do as you may with the Death Note. In the end, how it is used is entirely up to you. I am not forbidding you from anything- it is your Death Note, and your decision."

The room was quiet for a moment. Rem's shadow loomed over the majority of the room. Idly, Misa wondered how light could be blocked by a Shinigami at all when they were intangible beings. How did that work?

"I guess... maybe if I make sure to research every criminal for absolute proof of their crimes before I kill them?" Misa's statement was phrased more like a question than anything else. "It'll be slow, but I guess it's still something, and it'll keep me from killing anyone who might be innocent... and if I'm unsure, I'll just skip over them." Yes, that sounded like a safe enough course of action.

Misa made her way over to the couch, near where the Shinigami was standing. The model noted that she had never seen Rem sit, for some reason. A question suddenly popped to the forefront of her brain. "I don't suppose there's some special Shinigami power that can tell me if someone is guilty or evil, is there?"

"No." The response was short and swift.

Misa sighed and flopped down on to the couch. "I didn't think so..."

* * *

-Two hours later-

"There, that's enough for now." Misa said as she put down her pen. Yawning, she stretched languidly in her seat. "Phew! This is a lot of work. It took foreeeeeever to research those guys... I think I'll only do a couple a day from now on, I don't get that much free time! It's a good cause and all, but there's only so much I can do per day..."

Misa spun her chair to look at Rem, who hadn't moved since they'd last spoken. "Hey Rem? Do you think that maybe if I vary the cause of death, it won't be so... boring?"

Rem did not move, nor did her expression change. "Do as you wish, Misa."

* * *

"Hey, have you heard? Five prisoners over in the Kansai region just up and died of heart attacks a couple of days ago!"

"Yeah, I know, and a couple died over in Hokkaido too! Same day!"

"I think a few died yesterday too, some sort of weird escape attempt accident. Did you see it on the news?"

"This is freaky..."

Light ignored the chatter going on around his desk. He had heard most of this yesterday, save the part about the escape accident. He had to admit, it piqued his interest more than a bit. _'A single incident can be written off as a coincidence, especially given that it took place in a single prison. But simultaneously, from heart attacks? And the same thing happened, on the same day, in a different part of the country altogether? Something strange is going on.' _Light thought to himself. _'...I wonder if this will continue? There's no way these incidents are just sheer chance.' _The genius cocked his mouth up into a smirk. _ 'Someone out there is killing criminals, and they're doing it all over the country. I wonder if it's some sort of group...' _It would only make sense, unless they had somehow gotten from Kansai to Hokkaido in less than half an hour. '_Shame that they'll probably get caught eventually..._' Light shook himself. Where had THAT thought come from? Sure he had no problem with the end results as they stood, but murder was still murder.

* * *

-The NPA Headquarters-

Soichiro Yagami sat at his desk, trying to understand the files that were being placed in front of him.

"So, we've got five prisoners dead of heart attacks in Kansai, and two dead of the same over in Hokkaido? What exactly makes this police business?"

Matsuda nervously swallowed and stood straight, trying to look and act his best in front of the chief. Why had HE been picked to deliver and explain these? "I'm not entirely certain, sir! It seems some people think that the heart attacks were caused by someone deliberately, and they want us to investigate for murder, sir!"

"Did their blood tests come back clean?"

"I'm not sure! You will have to check the files, sir!"

"Matsuda, please stop yelling in my office. And it's chief, not sir."

"Of course, si-! I-I mean, yes, chief."

That taken care of, Soichiro took to examining the autopsy reports. After a few minutes, the chief of police scowled.

"Well, their blood came back clean, and they didn't have any injuries or holes that indicate lethal injection. Unless I missed the memo, I don't think we've developed anything that leaves no trace on the body or in the blood that can cause sudden heart attacks. I'm not seeing any motive to this either, unless our initial checks missed some sort of connection between these seven. This did go through others before it made it all the way up to me, right?" Soichiro looked up at Matsuda for an answer. Matsuda nodded in lieu of yelling and embarrassing himself in front of the one person he needed to impress... again.

The chief sighed. "I think people are just reading too much into a coincidence. It does seem rather odd, so I don't blame them. Let's keep these files around, but I don't think we need to look into it too hard unless some sort of trend develops."

The door opened and Ide stuck his head in. "Chief?"

The police chief looked up. "Yes?"

"Just thought you should know, we just had three more prisoners over in Hokurika die in an escape attempt."

"And, why exactly am I being told this?"

"I'm not sure. Someone thought it should be added as supplementary material to the prisoner heart attacks files."

Soichiro sighed even harder than before. "Now we're getting reports of escape attempts? Just because the deaths are criminals doesn't mean they're all necessarily connected. Why this is being brought before me...?" A hand reached up to rub wrinkled temples. He had an obligation to look into it, no matter how unlikely anything actually going on was, so he couldn't just ignore it... And he had to admit, so many prisoners dying within a three day proximity DID seem a little odd to just be a coincidence.

"Alright Ide. Just add the files to this folder, and we'll go over it later..."

* * *

-Two days later-

Light was sitting in class, his teacher droning on about concepts he'd learned three years ago. As a result, his mind was anywhere but in the classroom. Instead, they were directed towards a different source- namely, the recent prison deaths. Apparently, prisoners were no longer dying of heart attacks, but instead by bizarre accidents. A man had been knocked off a makeshift ladder while trying to escape by a bird flying into his head, crushing his two partner's necks beneath him as he fell. Another escape attempt over on the other side of the country had involved a prisoner attempting to hack his way through a wall with a knife, and somehow ended up slitting both his and another man's throat in the process. Then there was today's, in which a prisoner in Shikoku had managed to choke on an insect that had been lying in their food, only to overturn the table the prisoners were eating on before collapsing, flinging scalding hot soup into the faces of two others and killing them as well. _'No group could do this, they couldn't possibly control a bird or an insect of all things, not in the way they caused those deaths. What IS this?!' _This was ridiculous. How were they killing people through such... **bizarre** means?!

_'I think I liked it better when they were killing by heart attack... but how are they doing this in the first place?'_ There seemed to be no logical explanation to how any person or group could manage such convenient "accidental" deaths and leave no trace whatsoever, at least not that Light had heard of.

_'And now, prisoners all over Japan are dying, at an average rate of around three or four a day, if the pattern continues...'_

Light smiled thinly. It was almost as if whoever was doing this had some sort of supernatural ability to kill without even being there, instead choosing to literally manipulate reality in their favor, and sit back as their victims died at their leisure. There was so much that could be done with that sort of power...but of course, it almost certainly was something more mundane. But _what_...? Even he, in all his genius, had no idea.

Though Light was loathe to admit it, he wished HE was the one doing this. People could say whoever was perpetrating these deaths were murderers all they wanted... but in all honesty, he completely agreed with what they were doing. He couldn't see whoever was doing this as murderous- in fact, their deeds were downright heroic. Criminals deserved to die before they could pollute the world even further, and a quick check on the dead criminals' backgrounds had determined them all as extremely, definitively guilty. If he had the ability to do this, he would have been doing the exact same thing, if not more. Light knew, with all the certainty that the sky is blue, that he could make even better use of such a power.

His thoughts wandered back to how anyone could possibly be doing this once again. Could the animals have been electronic? _'No, they would have discovered that upon investigation of the insect, even though the bird flew off.'_ Was it some sort of elaborate conspiracy? Perhaps the deaths weren't even real... _'My mind must be working at half capacity. That's ridiculous.'_ For what purpose? Certainly none that he could think of...

Could... could it really be something supernatural in nature?

Light couldn't shake the feeling that the deaths had not been carried out by normal human means. It was a ridiculous conclusion, but...

_'Conclusions can wait.'_ Regardless of how this person or group was doing what it did, the brown haired genius wanted to be a part of it. As a point of fact, his mind had thought of little else for the past few days. This power, this ability to cleanse and remake the world, whatever it was... he wanted it. No, he _needed_ it. He felt almost... empty, knowing that someone else was enacting justice upon the scum of the world, and he wasn't included or even involved.

Yes, Light thought to himself, smirking as he did so. He knew exactly what to do. It was time for him to figure out just who was doing this. Once he did, he would find them, along with their source of power... and take a piece of that power for himself.

For the greater good.

* * *

AN: I know absolutely nothing about the police system. I'm sure that scene is entirely, entirely wrong. Sorry about that.

For those that have forgotten, Misa is not stupid. Obsessive, yes, and certainly not on L or Light's level of smarts, but not stupid. She came up with a plan to figure out who Kira was, and it worked. She made a coded message to get Light to come to her, and it worked. She made a disguise to protect her identity, and it worked. Hell, she wouldn't have even been caught if she hadn't left traces of her hairs on the envelopes, and that's a pretty small detail considering how much else she covered. Though, eventually her behavior towards Light would have gotten her caught anyways, and that's her major problem- her dedication to Light/Kira, which caused her to make rather stupid mistakes. I'm putting her at the level of hard-to-catch criminal smarts right now, so she's smart, but not gambit-on-top-of-gambit smarts like Light or L.

No L yet, sorry. He'll be showing up a bit later.

Oh, and, as much as I hate to do this, reviews are far more motivating to keep writing than follows and favorites even if those are nice too. So even if it's just a "good job" or "bad job" (preferably with _why_), could you drop one on the story? Please?


	3. Symmetrical Botvinnik System Reversed

The disclaimer has handed off its job to me, afraid for its own safety given how quickly it was killed off in the first chapter. I have put it into a witness protection program. So long as no one with the Shinigami eyes is after it, it will be nigh-impossible to kill it via Death Note, the series of which does not belong to me by the way.

Just in case you hadn't quite gotten that yet.

* * *

-The NPA Headquarters, one week later-

"Man! Those reporters outside aren't giving up!"

"Of course they aren't Aizawa, they haven't for the last two or three days, what makes you think they'd stop now?"

"Well you'd think that after the tenth or so time we tell them we're doing all we can, but can't give them specific details on the case, they'd maybe give it rest!"

"You would think. This 'Fates' group is really starting to tick me off..."

"Gah! I don't get it! This clearly has reached news worthy levels of attention! We're not getting anywhere on this case, so why haven't we called in some sort of help by now, or even tried?!"

"Why don't you ask the chief? He would be the one in charge of that."

* * *

Soichiro Yagami was already not having the best of days, and it did not improve at all when Ukita and Mogi came marching through his door.

"Sir!" Mogi began, "With all due respect, we can't just ignore those reporters forever! They aren't going to quit! Why haven't we just told them we don't know anything?"

"And why haven't we called in any help by now?" Ukita continued, "We've been doing our best but we can't figure out anything about these guys! They haven't left a trace, even when we've had officers stationed right nearby when a death happened! Surely we could call in some foreign help, or maybe hire one of those private detectives to at least assist us!"

Soichiro listened to them both with a stony expression on his face. To think only a few days ago he had brushed this entire case off. But the "accidental" deaths, as well as the occasional heart attack, hadn't stopped, and it was clear by this point that someone was behind them. The entire department was barely working on anything BUT this case now. Except that whoever was doing this hadn't been leaving any trace of their actions...

Before the two could go any further, the police chief cut them off. "Mogi, Ukita, I assure you, if I had a choice in the matter I would have called in some manner of help by now."

The two lower officers looked at each other, slightly confused. "What do you mean, if you had a choice in the matter?" Ukita asked.

Soichiro laid his arms on his desk and bowed his head. This was not going to be a fun conversation. "First, the reporters. We aren't saying anything because the director of the NPA has determined that it would be best if we kept news of this inside the country. If news gets out that Japan can't prevent its own prisoners from being killed, we could have major trouble on our hands with the rest of the world. However, if things stay as they are, the frenzy over these criminals will eventually die down. While we can't stop people from leaving the country or talking about this "Fates" group, we can keep publicity down as much as possible by not giving any information to the media. I've been instructed to make sure this department provides as little information as possible to any reporters, and yes, before you ask I have already told the ones outside this."

"As for why we can't call in any help, it's partially tied into the reasons we can't tell the media anything. If we involve any other agencies, we run the risk of this becoming worldwide news- the bigger this gets, the more attention it gets. However, there's another piece of reasoning to this." He paused, observing his two subordinates' reactions. They were hanging on his every word. Good, they were paying attention.

"The Fates are still only a small phenomenon right now, not much more than a heavily discussed rumor." Soichiro continued. "If we let slip that we haven't got an inkling who they are, and have no leads on how to find them, we may very well cause a nationwide panic. I assume you can guess why we would prefer that not happen. People are already somewhat scared- sure, the Fates may only be killing criminals right now, but what assurance do we have that they'll stay that way? From what we know there doesn't seem to be a limit to their ability to kill and make it look like an accident, or even natural death."

Mogi and Ukita nodded, understanding the reasoning now. However, Ukita wasn't satisfied. "Chief, I understand why we can't ask another country for help on this, but why can't we call in a private detective? If we need to stop this before it gets any bigger, wouldn't it be better to call in an expert instead of floundering on our own? One person wouldn't draw that much attention."

Soichiro stood up and looked out his window. "Up until a few hours ago, I was considering the same thing. But no. We can't. In fact, that would almost be worse than just telling the entire country about our complete lack of information."

Ukita was aghast at this, while Mogi just seemed slightly confused. "W-wha? Worse?! But that doesn't make any sense! How would it be worse?!"

The older man sighed, turning back to face the two. "Think about it for a moment. Let's use the world's top detective, 'L', for an example- does his involvement keep a case quiet?" The police chief shook his head. "No. Whenever he becomes involved on a case, the entire thing becomes some sort of national phenomenon. I don't doubt that most of the people in this department have heard of most every case he's solved within the past ten years. Am I wrong?" Mogi shook his head, while Ukita looked down and grit his teeth. The chief was right, and he knew it.

Soichiro didn't stop. "L may be secretive in terms of appearance, but in terms of the cases he solves? The entire country will be talking of nothing else if that man gets involved. We could try to keep his involvement secret, but I don't trust that we actually can. There are many people in this department, and even one having loose lips could cause the exact situation I just described. Unfortunately, it's much the same for most of the "top detectives", if on a lesser scale. Hence why we can't bring anyone else in."

The police chief moved between his two subordinates and moved out the door, still talking. "However, after some thinking, I've decided that even if we were able to guarantee secrecy of a private detective's involvement, I wouldn't do it."

"You wouldn't? Why?" Mogi asked, following with Ukita behind their boss.

"Before I tell you, I think the entire department needs to understand what I just went over with you two. Don't worry, you'll understand my reasoning by the end of it."

* * *

-Twenty minutes later-

In a rather impromptu assembly, all officers of the NPA that worked in the building and were currently working on this case were gathered in front of Soichiro. The room was rather crowded, as unfortunately even the department's largest room was not meant to comfortably hold this many people at once.

"...and that's it. Any questions?" Soichiro finished.

The room erupted in noise.

"How are we supposed to catch them on our own?! This case is hopeless!"

"I was waiting it out until we enlisted a detective! What are we supposed to do now?!"

"What is the director _thinking_?! We can't keep this sort of case from leaking to the public no matter how hard we try!"

"I want off this case! The department has worked on nothing besides it for days and we've gotten nowhere!"

"The Fates are untraceable! They can probably kill us too if they want to! I don't wanna die!"

Soichiro slammed his hands down on the desk closest to him. "**ENOUGH! L****isten up!**"

The room quieted. The police chief immediately took advantage of this silence as he knew it would not last long. "Everyone- even if we COULD enlist help, by this point I have decided that I no longer would! If we are doing our jobs correctly, we should not _need_ outside assistance! Yes, the world has taken to calling in 'L', or any number of other detectives, when a case is too difficult to solve. But if we called a detective in for every hard case we ever faced, the police department would fall into ruin! Have you all forgotten that catching criminals, _especially _the craftier, sneakier ones, is our job?"

A small pause allowed the words to sink in before the Soichiro continued. "When you joined this department you agreed to risk your life in the name of the general public and the law. Just because you're not in the field doesn't mean you get to take a pass on that part of the job description!"

Now the police chief looked over the entirety of the building's employees, an intense glare frozen upon his features, as if **daring** someone to contradict him. "We are here to protect this country and everything it stands for. If I can't count on all of you to get it together and do your jobs, even in the face of danger, you can leave. Those of you who want to help me catch this Fates group and keep them from killing anyone else, danger or not, stay. Anyone?"

No one moved. A minute passed, and still everyone remained, some with their heads bowed in shame, and some looking as if they wanted to leave, but were unwilling to be the only one to do so. The room remained full.

Someone's voice echoed from the back of the room. "Yeah! The chief is right!"

"There are no perfect crimes! The Fates will have to slip up, and we'll be right there to cuff them when they do!" another joined in.

"Yeah! What they said!"

Soon the noise level of the assembled crowd grew in volume, until it became an outright roar of confidence and approval.

Soichiro smiled. He hadn't really wanted to fire anyone, but he needed them to realize this was the NPA's problem, and they couldn't just pass it on to someone else because they thought it was too hard to solve. Now it turned out he wouldn't have too anyways. He was proud of his department. "Alright then. Let's catch these guys."

* * *

-The Yagami Household-

While a mother prepared dinner and a small girl struggled with her homework, Light Yagami sat at his desk, researching every known prisoner death within the past week and a half. There was finally enough data to make a few conclusions about this whole "Fates" debacle. His whirring thoughts were practically audible as he switched through browser tabs at a rate most people would use to surf TV channels.

_'Only a couple of deaths not from death row outside of Japan... none of them by heart attack or by "accident". They could be trying to throw off anyone looking for them by seeming to be inactive anywhere else, but if they were that smart they wouldn't have made their actions here so obvious.'_ Meaning he could probably narrow the culprit's location down to somewhere in Japan. This was just as well, given that he was still in high school and didn't really have the resources to go country touring, especially if he didn't want to seem suspicious to his family, or the police for that matter. It was as if it was simply meant to be.

_'Right now they only seem to be killing about three or four at random times of the day. Does that make their limit four people per day? No, the seven they killed the day this first started contradicts that. This is probably some sort of self imposed limit... how stupid.' _A power able to kill the guilty via untraceable means and they were barely using it? That was practically a crime all on its own. Targeting criminals indicated well intentioned goals, or Light would never have considered finding and joining these "Fates". But they obviously weren't using their ability to its fullest potential- even if seven was the limit, they could nearly double their effectiveness by simply reaching that each day. Were they being hesitant, or did too many kills per day have some sort of detrimental effect? Light filed away that question for when he met them. And speaking of "them"...

_'The "Fates", huh?'_ Light mentally analyzed the populace given moniker. There were the obvious connotations to the word that would shape how the public would come to view them, and it had a nice ring to it, but something seemed... off, about calling them that... ah.

'_I'm not sure I believe that this is multiple people...' _That was why the name seemed strange. Although, he wasn't quite sure WHY he didn't think it was a group... regardless of how they were doing this, there was no real reason to believe that even a possibly supernatural ability to kill could not be shared. In fact, he practically needed it to be sharable if he wanted the same ability. So why couldn't he shake the feeling this was a single person...?

Perhaps it was just wishful thinking. If these deaths weren't supernaturally or otherwise abnormally assisted, it would HAVE to be more than one person, as there would be no way to travel so far between prisons in the timespan some of the deaths had taken place in. That would make his potential ability to help any such group very limited, if they didn't kill him upon meeting him. He also would have basically wasted a lot of time, because if the method of execution wasn't something he could use to enact justice himself, this entire endeavor would be functionally pointless- not to mention he would have jeopardized his safety immensely by going along with the plans of only slightly less than common criminals.

However, if it was the inverse possibility- that this was all the work of just one person, their source of power would have to be supernatural, for the exact same reason. THAT would be much easier to take control of and exploit, especially if the individual was a woman. He could probably charm her, regardless of age, if that was the case, and if so he probably wouldn't even need to gain the power for himself- he could just have her start following his plan instead, if he went about things in just the right way.

Light shook his head. That sounded entirely too villainous to his liking. Sure, he could usually manipulate women, that didn't mean it should be the first thing that came to mind. He'd be happy to go along with their plan as long as it made sense. Besides, this was all entirely speculation, based on no real logic. It was probably irrelevant until he actually found them anyways, so he moved on.

_'Given the accidents that have occurred, they probably have some way to control living things, people included if the two who died by knife were any indica-'_

"Light!" A whirling ball of sister interrupted Light's thought process as she ran in through the open bedroom door. "Could you help me with my homework? I don't get this..."

"Huh? Oh, sure, Sayu. Just give me a minute to finish up here." Light said, closing his laptop. Hmm, the door had been left open? That had been rather reckless of him. This little... project was taking up perhaps a bit TOO much of his attention if he'd gotten so careless.

* * *

"UNCATCHABLE 'FATES' CRIME GROUP ON THE RISE!"

"THREE JAPANESE CRIMINALS DEAD IN FREAK ACCIDENT! THE WORK OF 'FATE'?!"

"POLICE REFUSE TO GIVE FURTHER INFORMATION ON RECENT PRISONER DEATHS!"

"'ACCIDENTAL' DEATHS! A GOVERNMENT CONSPIRACY?!"

Misa looked over today's headlines with a somewhat amused, somewhat pleased expression, though if anyone were in front of her, they would be able to see her eyes contained a small glint of hurt. Rem read the paper from over her shoulder, wondering how the girl was reacting on the inside. She didn't have to wait long to find out, since Misa began thinking out loud as soon as she finished the article she was reading.

"So, they think I'm a group, and they're calling me the 'Fates'... well, those who don't think it's secretly the government killing off it's own prisoners, at least." Misa rolled the name around on her tongue. The 'Fates', huh? It was a nice name. The English word made the title sound exotic. Though, according to her limited knowledge of English, it didn't really fit since she was only one person...

She looked over her shoulder to smile at the Shinigami perched behind the couch "Hey Rem, what do you think of the name they gave me? Do you like it?"

Even after spending a week and a half with her, Rem was not sure what to think of Misa Amane. She certainly wasn't stupid, of that the Shinigami was sure. So why did this girl keep asking her these sorts of questions...?

"I have no real opinion, Misa. I do not particularly think of any names as 'good' or 'bad'. Surely you have noticed by now that I am not the type of being who has 'opinions' all that often. There is not much use for them for a god of death."

Misa's smile was not dampened by this. "Sure you do! You had an opinion on my plan when I started this, right?"

"That was because it directly concerned your safety, not-"

"And you have an opinion on foods, too! You don't like them that much- and we'll have to find something to change that- but that IS an opinion!"

Rem slowly shook her head. This girl... "Well, I cannot say it fits very well. 'Fates' is a plural English word, referring to a group if used as a noun, and although I am with you, you are the only one carrying out killings at the moment."

Misa grinned brightly. She knew if she just kept at it she could get Rem to talk with her. From their discussion last week, it seemed the vast majority of Shinigami were rather apathetic to... well, everything, but stuff on Earth especially. Rem was barely an exception, and only that because she cared about Misa- in the aspect of caring about anything else in the human world, she was much like most every other Shinigami. This did not sit well with the teen model, who was very sociable, and would prefer to spend hours talking to someone than spending them all on her own. Her life had been lonely ever since her parents died, but then Rem had showed up, and said she would never leave Misa's side... it was perfect.

However, no matter how delighted Misa was by this aspect of the Death Note, if Rem was going to be by her side all the time, especially as a friend (as the teen model already thought of her as), she needed to be a little more talkative and a little less stoic (or, well, less quiet at least). Thus, Misa had taken to breaking the Shinigami out of what she thought of as a "shell", hopefully introducing her to some good things about Earth along the way. She'd already ordered up dozens of different fruits this week via room service, and had Rem try them to see if she would change her opinion on Earth food. Nothing yet, but she was sure Rem would find something to like eventually.

Setting her train of thought back on track, Misa turned fully around on the couch to face the Shinigami and continued. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Okay, sure, it doesn't make total sense, but the word itself is pretty nice sounding. And how about if it was made singular? That would be just "Fate", right? Do you think that would suit me?"

Rem stared for a moment before giving what seemed to be her version of a shrug. "I suppose so, Misa. It seems like a fine name."

Misa hopped off the couch, satisfied with that answer and intent on ordering a snack and new fruit for Rem to try before researching any more criminals. "I wish they wouldn't say _I'm_ the criminal though. I mean, I'm killing criminals, and ones that were definitely guilty at that. Shouldn't this be considered some kind of public service or something instead? It's kind of mean to say I'm the bad guy here." A small pout formed on the girl's face before it was replaced by a small smile.

"Ah, well, I'm sure they'll come around sooner or later. It's not like I'm killing any good people, so they'll see what I'm doing is right soon enough."

* * *

-Two hours later-

Misa yawned. Tomorrow she had another modeling appointment, and she really needed to get some sleep, but she needed to finish off some more criminals first. Scanning the prisoner list she'd looked up, Misa couldn't help but feel incredibly bored. It would be so much easier if she could just kill these people without looking up their crimes first... but it couldn't be helped. At least writing down the ways they were going to die was pretty fun, though perhaps she needed to tone it down a bit. The last one, which had involved a lightning strike, was perhaps a bit too grandiose.

Finally satisfied with the evidence of the mens' collective guilt, Misa smiled widely as she wrote down the names, time, and cause of death for four more prisoners over in Osaka. Their deaths were slated for tomorrow, at four in the morning. This was the most satisfying part of the whole thing- knowing that she had just made the world a better place.

Misa's thoughts drifted to the name she had been given by the public as she turned out the lights and headed for bed. According to the small bit of side research she'd done, the English word was the equivalent to destiny- events out of anyone's control that worked in mysterious ways, with an outcome that no one knew but "Fate" itself. It also referred to three sisters from Greek mythology, who both spun and cut the threads of people's lives when it was their time to die. All in all, a fitting pseudonym indeed.

Misa collapsed into the bed, Rem standing at "rest" just outside the door. One final thought drifted by as she fell into sleep.

_'Well then, world... I guess I really am... **Fate**.'_

* * *

AN: Oh, Soichiro. You still think this case is small enough for the NPA to handle on its own. No amount of inspiring/reprimanding speeches is going to change that you're out of your league. You fool...

I was originally going to call the "Fates" by some Japanese name, but there are so many different ways to say "Fate" in Japanese that I had no idea which one was proper to use. "Unmei" seems to be used the most, but there's a good 6 other ways, and given that the original name was taken from English I went with this. Since there isn't much to change when you say the word with a Japanese accent, "Fates" remains the name. If you're wondering why it isn't "Kira", you may want to consider that the nature of the killings is different. Here, deaths seem to be all over Japan (and ONLY the country of Japan), but only happen at a rate of three or four per day. The public is under the impression a group is doing this, and still doesn't think it's something supernatural because the death count isn't impossible for a widespread group, unlike Kira's which were impossible for anything short of a "godlike" power. Thus, the general public's impression is rather different, and so is the name given.

So in case you didn't notice even after reading the above paragraph, things are a bit different here... Light's killings couldn't be hidden from the world because he killed everywhere, and upwards of at least 50 (as a lower boundary) at a time. Misa? She's only killing in Japan, and at a much smaller rate. She is being a little less cautious, but the smaller scale seems to be working in her favor- the news of her killings is containable, thus the NPA director wants to keep such information from reaching the world at large, and consequently L doesn't get called in... yet. Hehehe...

I am somewhat unsure of the degree of familiarity the NPA has with L. Was the Interpol meeting the first time they had worked with him? Had L solved cases in tandem with them before? If so, please tell me in a review and I will make the appropriate corrections. Actually, even if I got nothing wrong, review anyways. Please? I could really use the motivation. :)


	4. Castling King

I hate this disclaimer job. Telling everyone I don't own Death Note shouldn't be something that I, the author, have to double up on jobs as. I can't hand it off to the story characters without breaking the fourth wall and completely ruining the story's tone, the official disclaimer is currently in hiding, and no one is lining up to take the job as its replacement. What am I supposed to do?

* * *

"Okay, so, what do we know so far? Don't be afraid to state the obvious, we need to be absolutely clear."

The police chief had set most of the department on gathering and compiling as much information as they could on the victims of The Fates- times of death, causes of death, possible background connecting the criminals together, and anything else Soichiro could think of that might be important to helping them find the perpetrators of their deaths. While they already had most of that information, it wasn't very well organized at the moment.

Meanwhile, he had gathered a meeting of those under his command who seemed to know the most about The Fates, so as to get a better idea of what they knew for certain about the criminal group. However, this was not, as he had expected, the heads of each division within the Criminal Investigations Bureau, but rather the people who had been monitoring the news and Fates killings most closely, either out of determination to solve this case, or simple interest in it for one reason or another. It seemed they were clearer on the information available than the majority of the department was- clearly Soichiro had been right in his intervention if watching the news made you better informed than working within the police force, even if only in this case.

This had led to a rather odd situation- the one Soichiro was currently in, in which he was currently holding a meeting where Shuichi Katakoto, head of the Organized Crime Department and authority to many of the people working on this case, was on functionally equal footing with Touta Matsuda, who of all the people in the room looked the most like he didn't want to be there. Soichiro put that up to nerves rather than disinterest, given the way the young officer's eyes were darting around the room like a caged animal's, and the fact that he himself had volunteered his knowledge of this case. Apparently he'd been voraciously watching and reading news about The Fates in his efforts to be of some use, and even had copies of the papers he had gotten the information from. Soichiro almost wanted to tell him to take it easy; with that kind of work ethic he'd burn himself out before he even hit 30.

Katakoto was the first to speak up. "Well, we know The Fates can kill in a variety of ways, some of which are, to be blunt, just plain bizarre. It's possible that they get some sort of kick out of making the cause of death as strange or implausible as possible, as I don't see any other possible reason to kill this way."

"It does make them near impossible to trace. Hard to get many clues off a bug." Someone interjected.

Katakoto shook his head in disagreement. "Yes, but since they can apparently kill via heart attack too, it doesn't seem like they'd need to use all these different ways unless they garnered some sort of enjoyment from it."

"What if they can only kill certain people by heart attacks, which is why they have to kill the others differently?" Someone else butted in. "If their powers are supernatural, then it's entirely possible there's some sort of limit we don't know about."

Two voices spoke out in tandem.

"I don't know about you all, but I think-"

"Their power almost has to come from-"

Soichiro cleared his throat. "We're getting off topic. Let's refrain from speculating for now and focus on what we know for certain. The Fates can kill in many, seemingly untraceable ways, heart attacks included, and we haven't gotten anywhere trying to monitor the deaths when they happen. What else?"

Katakoto cleared his throat and began again. "Right. Everyone currently killed by The Fates, at least so far as we know, was a criminal convicted of serious crimes. Since the death rate for the civilian populace hasn't gone noticeably up or down, and it doesn't seem The Fates kill without reason, I think we can assume they aren't killing normal people."

Matsuda finally found a place to contribute to the conversation. "Um, if they're doing it at the same rate they've been going at the criminals with, how would we even know unless the deaths were as bizarre as the criminal ones? Three or four a day isn't all that much when you consider how many people die per day. They might just not find civilians 'worthy' of more flashy deaths, so they make those killings look like normal accidents..." He trailed off, sinking back down into his chair.

One of the senior officers stood up to talk. "Look, we can't worry about what ifs right now. If it's happening, we can't stop it, since we probably wouldn't even know if someone's a victim or not. We do know about the criminal deaths, so let's focus on those, and if civilians are being killed by The Fates, they'll stop once the group is caught anyways."

A small voice issued from the back of the room. "Yeah... hey, I was thinking, do we really even need to stop The Fates? All these criminals were horrible people. They were in prison for a reason, so is it really so bad that-"

The police chief cut the statement off before it could go any further. "Stop that. This is a crime spree no matter how you look at it. The victims are irrelevant- murder is still murder."

* * *

Light scowled at his computer. _'Damnit. I don't know how to go any further without more information...' _

He was well and truly stuck. Even a genius like him couldn't make theories when there was nothing to go off of, and while there was plenty of information on the prisoners and deaths, Light needed to know where to look. "Japan" was obviously far too wide a range, thus a general place of "headquarters" needed to be narrowed down. If it was only one person, as Light's mind seemed to insist upon, then it should be even easier. But there was seemingly no range limitation to the killing method that he could see, at least not inside of Japan itself, so the locations of the deaths didn't help. The times of death were sporadic- there was seemingly no pattern, so he couldn't even make a guess as to when the Fates had free time and thus theorize on their job or jobs, assuming they even had any. The most he could guess given that information was that The Fates were either homeless, jobless, at home workers, self employed, in the entertainment industry, part of the mafia... the list went on. That was hardly narrowing it down at all. If it really was more than one person, he couldn't even count on that deduction. Not to mention, if the were smarter than they seemed, the varied times could just be to throw anyone trying to find them off track.

Light leaned back in his chair, his fingertips pressed to his forehead. His eyes were tired of looking at the computer screen. The Fates hadn't been exactly covering their tracks given how obvious the deaths were, but since they left nothing behind, it could be said they didn't even need too.

_'If I could just find out what the police know... though it's not as if they know much either. I know Dad's been working on this case, and he's still been coming home with that same tired look on his face every day. If the NPA had made some sort of big leap with what they had to work with, he would have come home in better spirits than that at some point, like he does every time a breakthrough in a tough case is made. Still, the information the police department has could still be useful. If only I could... could...'_

Light was suddenly struck by a pang of conscience. What was he doing? Researching a criminal, or criminals' crimes, so that he could go join them in committing them? What was he _thinking_? If he was caught-!

_'No. No, I won't get caught.' _He wouldn't be so cocky as to say it out loud, but he was too smart for tha-

Light immediately broke off that train of thought. No one was perfect. You couldn't foresee everything, and thinking you could was the hubris that led to many a cartoon villain's downfall. Not that he was the villain in this situation, but the point still applied. Perhaps he hadn't truly considered how everyone else would view his actions if he ever WAS caught. So, steepling his hands, Light thought about his options.

A few minutes later, he had a rough mental map of what he could do from this point in time.

Option one was of course to simply drop trying to find The Fates, and go back to being a normal high school student, albeit one with an outrageously high IQ. Sure, it would make his work up until now pointless, but he wouldn't have to be worried about any of this. Still, there was a reason he'd begun doing this in the first place, a fruit that had tempted him too greatly for him to turn his back on it- the ability to dispense justice upon those who had shown themselves to be scum, those who contributed to the worsening of society like an incurable pestilence. Harsh descriptors, yes, but those who did such terrible things deserved nothing more. If there was a possibility of obtaining such an ability, he couldn't turn away from it, whether the law saw it as right or not.

That narrowed down his possibilities quite a bit, which made calculating the best course of action a lot easier. From a logical standpoint, the options available if he kept going on his current path were simple. When he found The Fates, he'd first test their motives and discover their method of killing if he didn't already know it by then. If their method of judging the already-condemned was supernatural, and they truly were doing this in the pursuit of justice as it seemed, he could go along with his original plan of helping them carry things out in a smarter way, as well as help keep them from getting caught. It would be dangerous, but it would be right. So much the better if The Fates turned out to be only one person; they would be much easier to help keep from being discovered, as well as easier to convince of what he thought could be done to improve their "work".

However, if they weren't actually interested in the pursuit of justice, and/or were simple criminals whom were just amazing at remaining unseen, Light could turn them in and claim he simply couldn't stand idly by and watch them get away with murder, and had so undergone his own personal research so as to catch them before anyone else was killed. It was so obvious a backup plan that Light couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before now. Yes, finding them should still be his goal. This was for a just cause. A righteous one. He was on completely pure moral grounds in attempting to assist The Fates, no matter what the law said, because they weren't criminals. They were doing the right thing. HE was doing the right thing. He just wanted to see if he could help them use their power with a bit more... efficiency. This was what he _should_ be doing.

Right?

Light shook his head. Thinking like this was getting him nowhere. Hesitation would lead to inaction, after all, and he had already committed himself to this. He had a plan on what to do when he found The Fates, now he just needed to know HOW to find them.

Maybe he was just going about this wrong. If he couldn't yet find their location, he would have to wait for more information. But if it he waited for that to outright be discovered, he'd either be waiting forever, or the police would find them long before he could.

However, location could be inferred or discovered from other bits of data, if you could put them together. To find the culprit of a crime (or "deed", which Light supposed applied better in this case), you researched everything about them, including their method of killing. Supernatural or not, these Fates clearly weren't all powerful or all knowing, or the deaths would have happened all at one time, like a heavenly bolt of judgement striking the world with the fist of God. Since they hadn't...

Light smirked, a new plan of attack in mind. It was time to figure out just what the limitations of The Fates were...

* * *

-One hour later-

Light could have laughed aloud. Well, _that_ had been less work than he'd anticipated. And here he'd almost skipped checking this, in favor of immediately moving to the more obscure possibilities. What a surprise to realize the answer was so childishly evident.

The Fates couldn't have made it more obvious where they were getting their information from. A quick cross reference of all the dead criminals so far showed that they were all reported in popular online newspapers within the timespan The Fates had been active. And it stood to reason that if they were getting their information from newspapers, they probably needed some portion of the information on the criminals listed to kill them. At the very least, it was how they were initially deciding who to kill. What a joke. And here he'd been prepared to start trying to figure out how to hack government websites and databases, or begin researching supposed supernatural ways of gathering information.

In hindsight, he had vastly overestimated just how well informed The Fates were. Now that Light really thought about it, it actually made more sense for them to do it this way- you couldn't trace someone through the widest source of information available, at least not if they did nothing but read off of it. But in that case, how had the public not yet noticed this? Surely he wasn't the only one to put this bit of detective work together, it was the first thing he'd checked! If the NPA had noticed, they probably could have even temporarily shut down that portion of the papers- and obviously, they hadn't.

Was it that people were scared to talk about The Fates and were unwilling to speak up about something that could possibly lead to their death? Or did they just think that this wasn't important? Because if it was the latter case, they were wrong. It was very important. News could be tampered with, quite easily, and where a group like this was getting their facts from was a critical thing to know. Although, then again, gossip only traveled if it was interesting, and perhaps it was only natural that something people would find self evident after it was said like "_The Fates get their information from public newspapers._" wouldn't go very far.

It had worked out for the best anyways that this bit of knowledge either wasn't known, or wasn't often talked about. By forcing Light to look in to it himself, the initial discovery had actually led to another- while cross referencing the dead criminals, an odd discrepancy had become apparent. The very first criminal suspected to be a victim of The Fates- and the first of the occasional heart attack deaths- had NOT been reported in any recent news. There had to be something important lying within that fact, and Light was determined to find it. Plus, it seemed the man had been a robber, arrested for a single incident, but tried for a robbing and murder previously and found not guilty. His culpability for the previous incident was never proven, thus his only absolute crime was for a much less severe offense than The Fates usually inflicted punishment for. In addition to that, they had been the only criminal in a Japanese prison to die that day. THIS was a point of interest Light could definitely work with. Was the robber simply a test for their abilities? Or perhaps something more?

Well, it wouldn't be that hard to look in to it...

* * *

-One hour earlier-

Soichiro sighed as he opened the door to his house. The meeting had gone less well than he'd hoped. While they had definitively established the basic facts of everything they knew so far, the department still had no idea how to proceed. Moving prisoners to more secure locations had been difficult to get authorized, and hadn't helped even when they'd managed to do it, especially since who was going to be killed was so hard to predict. Watching prisons to discover The Fates' method of killing hadn't worked either, and had done nothing but spread manpower thin, while the few that saw a death in action gaped helplessly when the crime group struck. There was nothing he could think of that the NPA could do to draw them out, and they couldn't call in outside help from another country or a private detect-

Wait.

Greeting his wife and daughter as he walked in, Soichiro quickly set down his things and made his way to his study. The idea he'd just had could be highly beneficial, but it certainly was not something he had no qualms with doing. He would have to think about this.

But with things as they were...

After mulling over his options for around an hour, Soichiro made his decision, and trudged upstairs.

* * *

Light was just exiting his room, having decided he could leave researching the robber until tomorrow, when his father stopped him in the hallway.

"Oh, welcome home dad. I didn't hear you come in."

Noticing his father's stony expression, Light felt compelled to ask the obvious despite already knowing the answer. "Is something wrong? Did you make any breakthroughs on this whole 'Fates' case?"

Soichiro shook his head. "No, we haven't. To be honest, son, the department has no idea what to do right now- I managed to stop us from running around in circles, but we've hit a brick wall since then." That was... odd. The police chief usually wasn't so free with information, even with his own family. Criminal case information was classified, after all.

The answer to the mystery quickly became clear as Soichiro continued. "Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about..."

Light was not prepared for what he heard next.

"...Light, I'd like to bring you in on The Fates investigation."

...

A small smile began to stretch across the police chief's face after the pregnant pause was broken by Light's slow, considered, and affirmatory response. He never noticed the small glint in Light's eyes, nor the slight twitch his son's mouth made upwards.

* * *

AN: STILL no L. His canon position will presently be "filled" by Light. Everyone okay with that?

Soichiro, you poor man, you just violated your own rule. Sure, your son isn't technically a private detective, and he isn't going to be able to do everything on his own, but what happened to "this is our problem and no one else's"? Decided solving this case is more important than your department's overall work ethic, have we?

Oh, and, hehe, trying not to add many OCs, but since the police department didn't give up immediately this time and I can't find any minor character names, it was inevitable that I had to at least "make" one or two. Hopefully that didn't annoy you, and if it did... well, I can't imagine Shuichi showing up much more, so I wouldn't worry.

Not much else to say here, besides, as always, follow, fave, review? That last one especially, please, since I always somehow end up writing more of this after I get one. Yep, it's briiiiibery! ^u^


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